A Taste of Summer
by NynaeveIshizu
Summary: One-shot. Modern AU. As summer break approaches, the work of teachers does not fade. A friendship, born of the shared love for giving homework, and the mundane task of doing paperwork slowly grows into something deeper, as two people prepare for the end of the school year.


**A/N:** This story was born as a result of several hours between lectures, and I wanted to share it with you. It features one of my guilty pleasures: KakaSaku.

I don't have a Beta-reader, and I apologize beforehand for any and all mistakes that you might encounter. I should also warn you that English is not my mother tongue.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy, and, please, should you feel like it, tell me what you think. :)

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

Sunny and warm was Sakura's favourite type of weather, even while at work: it meant she wouldn't freeze to death. Her students, however, couldn't disagree with her more; to them it meant spending two hours locked in a stuffy classroom, studying Biology, rather than playing outside.

This was her first year teaching high school students, and it was nearing its end, as the near-summer heat indicated. Before, she had been a private tutor, helping both children and adults with Biology and English, depending on the student and what they needed. She shook her head with a tender smile, reminiscing over the past for a while before handing out tests to her class, then settling down on her chair. Haruno Sakura, age 21, loved giving out tests, much to the poor students' dismay. It helped her assess just how far they had gone, and if they could implement their knowledge at a later date, plus, she admitted, it gave her time to check some homework - yet another thing she liked giving- and do some leftover paperwork. As much as she adored her job, Sakura considered paperwork to be a special kind of hell, right along with Parent-Teacher meetings, or as they called them: 'Close Encounters of The Parent Variety'.

When she started at the beginning of the school year, some of said parents were quite dissatisfied when they saw the woman, claiming she was too young to be teaching, yet more disturbed by the pink hair color Sakura possessed. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it as dying it simply didn't work. The fact that she had graduated at the age of 12 simply flew out the window when they had met her for the first time. Things gradually fell into place, however, as time went by, and she noted, not without pride, at how far her students had gone during that year. The woman was always overjoyed to see the progress the teens were making, and even though she was not their favourite person right now, she hoped that, with time, they would see the merit of her teaching methods.

She gathered the tests and took some time to explain the new and old material once more before the bell rang, finishing with the usual:

"That's all for today. Do you have any questions?" Silence engulfed the room and she smiled, seeing them on the edges of their seats, ready to sprint outside at any given opportunity. "Lovely! You are free to flee." As she expected, there was a flood of students running out of the room. She had to admit there was something fun about torturing them with new knowledge right before the weekend.

' _Sadist_ ', the voice in her head chastised. She had to agree there, though, in her opinion, there was a hidden sadist in every teacher, and those who disagreed were simply in denial.

Haruno headed to the teachers' room readying herself for a long evening yet again, for the amount of paperwork awaiting her was not even halfway done. She was greeted by cheerful co-workers, who were quite happy it was finally Friday, and made her way to the coffee machine, craving the wondrous beverage she had deemed salvation. Her colleagues were kind, considerate, and helpful people, who had warmed up to her eventually, and now even invited her to the bar on occasion.

Kakashi Hatake, the history teacher, walked in at that moment, evidently done with his own lessons. He was a peculiar man with piercing dark eyes, an odd mask that covered half his face, and silver hair that seemed to defy gravity. The two had formed a kinship throughout the year, as they were usually the last ones to leave due to copious amounts of homework they checked at school. He was also quite popular among the female teachers, what with his mysterious nature and handsome features. Sakura, however, knew that behind that alluring exterior lay a huge pervert with a tendency of being late, and, surprisingly, the need to clean and tidy everything that looked out of place. That discovery came, when she found out they coincidentally lived in the same apartment building, with their flats right next to each other, and a terrace that they shared. It had come as a shock when she saw him on his side of the aforementioned terrace, casually reading Icha Icha Paradise with the breeze gently caressing his silver tresses.

Sakura smiled at the memory and tried to suppress a giggle when most of her female co-workers flocked around him with offers of dates, dinners, bar outings, generally expressing interest in the man. She was reminded of a similar fan-club surrounding one of her students, Sasuke Uchiha, yet, unlike the teen, Kakashi was enjoying the attention even though he never took any of them up on their offers. It was always fascinating to witness the parallel in relationships between students, and those of older individuals, making her recall a song she'd heard recently about how high-school never ended. As if on cue, the tune started playing in her head, and she could no longer hold in her laughter. That made Kakashi turn to her and give her a customary eye-crease that she returned with a grin. He came to her desk and, to her dismay, stole her coffee mug.

"It's not polite to laugh at other people's expense." He said, taking a quick sip of the liquid.

"It's also not polite to take things that don't belong to you" ,she replied, pointedly looking at the mug.

"Punishment. You'll get this after class", he winked at her and walked off to his own desk, object in hand.

"You're just too lazy to make your own coffee…" Sakura muttered, glad she'd had half of it already. By the chuckle, she understood he had heard her anyway, yet said nothing more. He was one of those people with whom she could just stay in comfortable silence, and still communicate- partly why she valued their friendship so much.

Soon enough, they were the only ones left in the room, each doing their respective task, when he spoke again.

"Ah, the joy of being a teacher. There's work to be done even after class." Even though the lower part of his face was obscured by the mask, she could tell he was grinning.

"So it appears." She answered, looking at him "But I suppose we wouldn't be in this predicament if we weren't both in the habit of giving out so much homework." Then she teased "And you still prefer to spend your time with it rather than a pretty lady at a bar."

"Ah, why do that, when I can spend my time with a gorgeous lady doing paperwork?" He said, glancing at her with a twinkle in his eyes, and she could feel her face growing hot.

"Or you just have a weird fetish that involves paperwork." She turned to him with a playful expression and made her voice as sultry as she could manage without bursting into fits of laughter "Tell me, Kakashi, does homework rub you the right way?"

"Perhaps" He caught on, fighting off his blush, and wiggled his eyebrows "But then, the same could be said of you as well."

"Point" Sakura conceded, finally breaking and giggling uncontrollably and he joined in.

As was their custom, they walked home together, deciding to have dinner at his place and stopping by the shop to get what they needed.

"Would you like me to help you cook?" The pinkette asked and she could see Kakashi visibly paling in horror.

"God, no! You can't cook to save your life, woman." He poked her in the ribs and she grunted in protest.

"How rude! I can bake!"

"True...You can make dessert?"

"Yay!" Sakura jumped and skipped along to get eggs and sugar while the man stared after her fondly.

After a scrumptious meal and a mouthwatering dessert, the pair sat in his living room drinking wine and discussing a particular book. Hatake had his mask off, much to her delight, and she could now admire his gorgeous face, although she tried to do it in a ,hopefully, not so noticeable way. Alas, she failed, judging by how he smirked at her. She would never admit it outloud but she couldn't lie to herself- she was definitely a fangirl. She marvelled at the way his lips curled, and not for the first time, wondered what they would feel like on her skin. The topic of conversation hardly helped her situation.

"I did enjoy the part where he pushed her against the counter. It gives you numerous ideas." Kakashi was saying, studying her expression. The female gulped and cleared her throat to try and find her voice. That was a scene she imagined often, though the main characters in her head bore a striking resemblance to herself and her companion.

"I agree. But I have a problem imagining the positions that followed. Admit it, there is no way a body could bend like that. It is simply physically impossible." She then stood to get a glass of water from the kitchen and he followed, unwilling to let the argument go. She was now opening the cupboard that held all the glasses, and he came behind her. She could feel the heat of his presence at her back, and her heart pounded loudly in her chest, as though it was trying to escape.

"Not true. I can assure you, with a bit of stretching, you can bend however your partner wants you to." He said, and she realized how close he was, when his breath fanned over her ear, making her shiver before she could stop herself.

"Speaking from experience?" Came her strangled question and he chuckled, handing her a glass but keeping quiet. He then placed his hand on her waist, rubbing slow circles, going up, almost reaching one of her breasts, then descending. His body pressed against her and she could feel that she wasn't the only one affected by the situation.

' _He is just teasing you. Get it together, woman! Brain? Brain? Do you copy, brain? Damn it!'_

Those were ones the last coherent thoughts she had for the next few minutes. The lips she longed for were placing butterfly kisses along her neck and he intertwined the fingers of his other hand with hers. She leaned into him then, relishing in the feeling of him and what he was doing to her. Unfortunately, that was the moment her brain decided to make an appearance.

 _'Wine. You've had an entire bottle of wine, you dumbass! Liquid courage is one thing, but this is the alcohol speaking. Stop it before it goes too far!_ '

She squeezed his hand and relayed her thoughts to the male. Kakashi gently turned her around and the heated look in his eyes made her tremble wantonly. Just as she was about to throw caution to the wind, the moment was broken by a loud crash coming from outside. The couple blinked, then separated, silently agreed never to talk about this again as they made their way to the window to check if everything was alright.

It turned out to be one of the resident drunkards, who had decided to throw an empty bottle at a passing car.

"Hm, alcohol does make people do crazy things, huh?" Sakura laughed and glanced at Kakashi.

"Yeah… Alcohol…" He said, gazing at her distantly.

Not long after that they called it a night, and Haruno went back to her apartment, the evening's events playing out in her mind over and over again, and she wondered what could have been, had that drunkard not decided to battle a steel monstrosity. She was certainly not alone in her musings.

* * *

"Naruto! Sasuke! What have I said about sitting next to each other? Sasuke, move next to Hinata. Naruto- next to Karin." Sakura was in full teacher mode on Monday when she walked into chaos.

"It's not my fault he's a dumbass!" Sasuke muttered.

"WHAT WAS THAT, YOU BASTARD?" Naruto shouted angrily.

"Detention! Both of you! Report to Gai after class!" Sakura was not amused. Not at all amused.

"But Ma'am!" Both said in unison, then glared daggers at each other.

She gave them a pointed stare, reminding them why it was never a good idea to make her mad. At last, blissful silence was had, and the lesson commenced without further interruptions. She put a mental note to thank Kakashi for sharing 'The Teacher Stare of Doom' with her.

Evidently, having lessons in the last week of school was a special kind of torture. If, by some miracle, one managed to keep their students focused, she would really like to learn that super power from them. The teachers themselves were having a hard time concentrating it seemed, with the exception of Gai, who was as enthusiastic as ever, filling the teacher's lounge with boisterous statements about 'the springtime of youth' and challenging Kakashi to 'Rock-Paper-Scissors', the only challenge the latter accepted.

Sakura shook her head slightly, and focused on her work, grading papers, checking homework, and writing lengthy e-mails to parents on what their child should focus on during the summer. She got distracted by a glass of cool strawberry scented water Kakashi placed on her desk, and smiled in gratitude. He returned it with an eye-crinkle of his own and a gentle bush of his fingers against her neck, sending delightful shivers down her spine. After their episode in his kitchen, he had taken to such gestures, and she reciprocated with her own: touching his shoulder, brushing against his leg 'accidentally', and any kind of not-at-all-obvious physical contact she could get away with. Of course, their routine together had continued normally apart from that slight alteration, but they were now spending every evening dining together, even going to restaurants occasionally. Tonight they had agreed to go to his place again and cook.

* * *

She was kneading dough while he cut vegetables and they discussed the ever-approaching summer break.

"I haven't really given it much thought, really." Sakura was saying "It would be nice to go somewhere, possibly with a swimming pool, I guess, but I have no one to go with, and I would get bored alone, knowing me." She laughed "My friend, Ino, the one I told you about, called me yesterday."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She said she'd be abroad for most of the summer. In… France, I believe."

"That's wonderful! I've heard that the architecture there is quite interesting." Kakashi replied

"I know, right? I hope she has a great time! But I'll miss her, you know? It's the first summer we won't be spending together."

"Ah, I see." The sound of chopping stopped, and she felt him come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, and pressing her against him in a way that made her breath catch in her throat. "Then how about you spend the summer with me instead?" The innuendo in his voice was unmistakable. Sakura sent a silent prayer to whichever deity might be listening and turned around to face him slowly.

Her heart was pounding, breaths coming out quickly, her stomach was coiling reminding her of the butterfly cliche she had made fun of before. Now, she felt just that, as she reached out a trembling hand and traced his face with her fingers, which then rested on his neck. She could feel a vein pumping underneath them erratically, and that cemented her decision. Painstakingly slow, she rose to her tiptoes, getting closer to him, giving him the opportunity to pull away. The ardent stare he was giving her drove her on and her target- his lips- was centimeters away.

Before she could move any further, however, he gave an animalistic growl and pulled her to him, sealing her mouth with his own in a heated kiss. Vaguely, she recalled that her hands were doughy, and she told him in-between kisses he would get dirty.

"Oh, I'd like to get dirty. Very dirty." He grinned.

"Did you just quote Icha Icha?" She asked, chuckling.

"Happy coincidence." His hands roamed, taking off offending pieces of clothing that were in his way. "But there is a scene that I will take great pleasure in reenacting with you from it"

That night she understood exactly what he had meant not that long ago as he proceeded to taking possession of both her body and her soul in all the ways he had always wanted to.

They ordered take out that evening. Much, much later. That summer, Sakura concluded, would be quite promising.

 **The End**


End file.
